The head of the Catholic Church became the only person to whom Biden presented the Medal of Freedom with honors during his term.
US President Joe Biden awarded Pope Francis the highest civilian honor in the US, the Medal of Freedom with Distinction. The Hill reported this on Saturday, January 11.
It was learned that Biden, who is only the second Catholic president in US history, called Pope Francis on Saturday to inform him of the award. The White House released a photo of Biden in the Oval Office next to the medal.
The current American president had planned to visit Rome this weekend to present the award in person, but was forced to cancel the trip due to massive wildfires in Los Angeles.
The Pope became the only person Biden gave the Medal of Freedom with Honors during his presidency. The visit to Italy also included a meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as part of Biden’s last foreign trip as president.
A White House statement called Pope Francis “the Pope of the people – a light of faith, hope and love, shining brightly around the world.”
Biden has a close relationship with Pope Francis, who has expressed support for the president despite differences over the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion. The last meeting took place in June, when Biden was in Italy for the G7 summit.
In October 2021, Biden met with Pope Francis amid discussions among conservative Catholic bishops about whether to allow him to receive communion because of his stance on abortion rights. Biden then said the Pope supported him and told him to continue receiving communion.
In November, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted a document on communion without addressing whether Biden or other politicians should be disqualified from receiving the sacrament because of their views on abortion, effectively ending debate on the issue. .
Let’s remember that at the end of last year the Pope accepted the invitation to visit Ukraine.
Pope Francis in his Christmas message called for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.